Huntsville is a city in
Madison County,
Limestone County, and
Morgan County,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County.
[ Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in the state.]
Huntsville was founded within the Mississippi Territory in 1805 and became an incorporated town in 1811. When Alabama was admitted as a state in 1819, Huntsville was designated for a year as the first capital, before that was moved to more central settlements. The city developed across nearby hills north of the Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...
, adding textile mills in the late nineteenth century.
Its major growth has taken place since World War II. During the war, the Army established Redstone Arsenal near here with a chemical weapons plant, and nearby related facilities. After the war, additional research was conducted at Redstone Arsenal on rockets, followed by adaptations for space exploration. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM is primarily responsible for lifecycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned gro ...
, and most recently the FBI's operational support headquarters all came to be located at nearby Redstone Arsenal. The National Trust for Historic Preservation included Huntsville in its "America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010" list.
The city's population was 215,006 at the 2020 census, making it Alabama's most populous city. Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
had been the largest since the growth of its coal and steel industries earlier in the 20th century. Huntsville is the largest city in the five-county Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area
The Huntsville–Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area is the most populated sub-region of North Alabama, and is the second fastest growing region in the State of Alabama, with 659,486 living within the CSA. It is also currently the 57th largest ...
. The Huntsville metropolitan area
The Huntsville Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan statistical area on the northern border of Alabama. The metro area's principal city is Huntsville, and consists of two counties: Limestone and Madison. As of the 2020 United States ce ...
's population was 491,723 in 2020, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in the state after the Birmingham metropolitan area.
History
First settlers
Together with settlement pressures after the United States gained independence, this area had become largely empty of indigenous peoples by the turn of the 19th century. Revolutionary War veteran John Hunt was a pioneer in 1805 on land around the Big Spring. The US negotiated an 1805 treaty with the Chickasaw and an 1806 treaty with the Cherokee who ceded their claims to land to the federal government.
The area was subsequently purchased by LeRoy Pope, who named it Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
after the home village of his distant kinsman Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
. Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out in a northeast to southwest direction based on the flow of Big Spring. Given anti-British sentiment during this period after the Revolution and with tensions leading to the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
, in 1811 the town name was changed to "Huntsville" to honor pioneer John Hunt.
Both John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were Freemasons and charter members of Helion Lodge #1, the oldest lodge in Alabama.
Incorporation
In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in what is now Alabama. However, the recognized "founding" year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunt's arrival.
David Wade settled in Huntsville in 1817. He built the David Wade House on the north side of what is now Bob Wade Lane (Robert B. Wade was David's grandson), just east of Mt. Lebanon Road. It had six rough Doric columns on the portico.
During the Great Depression, the Wade House was measured as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
(HABS) for preservation of historic buildings in the government's Archive. It was photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston for the project, which was part of the Roosevelt administration's programs to hire workers during this critical period. The HABS project put architects, draftsmen, and photographers to work to create an inventory of documentation and photographs of significant properties across the country. The Wade house had already been abandoned for years and was considerably deteriorated. It was torn down in 1952. Today only the antebellum smokehouse survives on the property.
Emerging industries
Huntsville's initial growth was based on wealth generated by the sale of cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
from plantations, for which there was international demand, and trade associated with railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, and the Carolinas
The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east.
Combining Nor ...
to develop new cotton plantations. The invention of the cotton gin in the late eighteenth century meant that uplands areas could be profitably cultivated with short-staple cotton, which could be grown in a much larger area than the long-staple cotton of the Sea Islands and Low Country.
In 1819, Huntsville hosted a constitutional convention in Walker Allen's large cabinet-making shop. The 44 delegates wrote a constitution for the new state of Alabama. In accordance with the new state constitution, Huntsville became Alabama's first capital when the state was admitted to the Union. This was a temporary designation for one legislative session only. The capital was moved to more central cities in the state; to Cahaba, then to Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of ...
, and finally to Montgomery.
In 1855, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846, the gauge railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama th ...
was constructed through Huntsville, becoming the first railway to link the Atlantic seacoast with the lower Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
.
Civil War
Huntsville initially opposed secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the Confederacy's efforts. The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, the first major encounter of the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. The Fourth Alabama Infantry, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war. They were also present when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
* Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
* Grant, Inyo County, ...
at Appomattox Court House in April 1865. Nine generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville; five fought for the Confederacy and four for the Union. Other Huntsville residents joined the Union Army and helped establish the Union Army's 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment.
On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville in order to sever the Confederacy's rail communications and gain access to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846, the track gauge, gauge railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenso ...
. Huntsville was the control point for the Western Division of the Memphis & Charleston.
During the first occupation, Union officers took over many of the larger homes in the city while the enlisted soldiers camped in tents mainly on the outskirts. In the initial occupation, the Union troops searched for both Confederate troops hiding in the town and weapons. There was not a lot of resistance and they treated Huntsville residents in a relatively civil manner. However, residents of nearby towns reported harsher treatment. Union troops were forced to retreat a few months later. In the fall of 1863, they returned to Huntsville, using it as a base of operations for the war in the South until the last months of 1864. According to the journal of a nearby resident, Union troops burned many homes and villages in the surrounding countryside in retaliation for the active guerrilla warfare in the area. Many houses and buildings were burned, although most of Huntsville was kept intact as it housed both Union officers and troops.
After the Civil War
During the Reconstruction era, three delegates from Huntsville attended the 1867 Constitutional Convention including Andrew J. Applegate, originally from Ohio, who went on to serve as Alabama's first Lieutenant Governor. Councill Training School, which eventually became William Hooper Councill High School, was established for African American students. It was named for educator and school founder William Hooper Councill
William Hooper Councill (July 12, 1848 – 1909) was a former slave and the first president of Huntsville Normal School, which is today Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in Normal, Alabama.D. W. Culp, ed., ''Twentieth Century Negro Li ...
.
Huntsville became a center for cotton textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
s, such as Lincoln, Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, and Merrimack. Each mill company constructed worker housing outside the city, creating communities that eventually included schools, churches, grocery stores, theaters, and hardware stores, all within walking distance of the mill. In many such company towns, workers were required to buy goods at the company stores, which sometimes overcharged them. The mill owners also established rules for behavior and could throw out workers from housing if they violated these policies. As was common for the time, work was highly segregated with only whites being allowed to work inside the mills and Blacks regulated to working outside as laborers and groundskeepers.
In 1892 a local dairy cow called Lily Flagg broke the world record for butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
production. Her Huntsville owner, General Samuel H. Moore, painted his house butter yellow and organized a party to celebrate, arranging for electric lights for the dance floor. Before 1906 an area south of Huntsville was named Lily Flagg in the cow's honor. This area was later annexed by the city.
Great Depression 1930s
During the 1930s, industry declined in Huntsville due to the Great Depression. Huntsville became known as the Watercress
Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae.
Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf v ...
Capital of the World because of its abundant harvest in the area. Madison County led Alabama in cotton production during this time.
World War II
By 1940, Huntsville was still relatively small, with a population of about 13,000 inhabitants. This quickly changed in early 1941 when the U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
selected of land adjoining the southwest area of the city for building three chemical munitions facilities: the Huntsville Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post and a census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a garriso ...
, the Redstone Ordnance Plant (soon redesignated Redstone Arsenal), and the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot. These operated throughout World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, with combined personnel approaching 20,000. Resources in the area were strained as new workers flocked to the area, and the construction of housing could not keep up.
Missile development
At the end of the war in 1945, the munitions facilities were no longer needed. They were combined with the designation Redstone Arsenal (RSA), and a considerable political and business effort was made in attempts to attract new tenants. One significant start involved manufacturing the Keller automobile, but this closed after 18 vehicles were built. With the encouragement of US Senator John Sparkman
John Jackson Sparkman (December 20, 1899 – November 16, 1985) was an American jurist and politician from the state of Alabama. A Southern Democrat, Sparkman served in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1946 and the United St ...
(D-AL), the U.S. Army Air Force
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
considered this for a major testing facility, but selected another site. Redstone Arsenal was prepared for disposal, but Sparkman used his considerable Southern Democratic influence (the Solid South
The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democrats in those states. The Southern bloc existed especial ...
controlled numerous powerful chairmanships of congressional committees) to persuade the Army to choose it as a site for rocket and missile development.
As the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
started, the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC) was given the mission to develop what eventually became the Redstone Rocket
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of W ...
. This rocket set the stage for the United States' space program, as well as major Army missile programs, to be centered in Huntsville. Brigadier General Holger Toftoy commanded OGMC and the overall Redstone Arsenal. In early 1956, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was formed to develop the U.S. Army's first large ballistic missile. The agency was established at Redstone Arsenal on 1 February 1956, and commanded by Major General John B. Medaris with Wernher von ...
(ABMA) under Major General John Medaris
John Bruce Medaris (12 May 1902 – 11 July 1990) was an officer in the United States Army during World War II and post war government administrator overseeing development of ballistic missiles.
During World War II Medaris was a colonel in the ...
was formed.
Resettlement of German scientists
In 1950, about 1,000 personnel were transferred from Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...
, Texas, to Redstone Arsenal to form the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC). Central to this was a group of about 200 German scientists and engineers, led by Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...
; they had been brought from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to the United States by Colonel Holger Toftoy under Operation Paperclip
Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from the former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World War ...
following World War II. Assigned to the center at Huntsville, they settled and raised families.
Early American space flight
The city is nicknamed "The Rocket City" for its close association with U.S. space missions. On January 31, 1958, ABMA placed America's first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit using a Jupiter-C
The Jupiter-C was an American research and development vehicle developed from the Jupiter-A. Jupiter-C was used for three unmanned sub-orbital spaceflights in 1956 and 1957 to test re-entry nosecones that were later to be deployed on the more ...
launch vehicle, a descendant of the Redstone. This brought national attention to Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, with widespread recognition of this being a major center for high technology.
On July 1, 1960, 4,670 civilian employees, associated buildings and equipment, and of land were transferred from ABMA to form NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...
(MSFC). Wernher von Braun was MSFC's initial director. On September 8, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
formally dedicated the MSFC.
During the 1960s, the major mission of MSFC was in developing the Saturn boosters used by NASA in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. For this, MSFC greatly increased its employees, and many new companies joined the Huntsville industrial community. The Cummings Research Park was developed just north of Redstone Arsenal to partially accommodate this industrial growth, and has now become the second-largest research park of this type in America.
Huntsville's economy was nearly crippled and growth almost came to a standstill in the 1970s following the closure of the Apollo program. However, the emergence of the Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
, the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...
, and a wide variety of advanced research in space sciences led to a resurgence in NASA-related activities that has continued into the 21st century. In addition, new Army organizations have emerged at Redstone Arsenal, particularly in the ever-expanding field of missile defense.
Geography
The city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.68%, are water. Huntsville has grown through recent annexations west into Limestone County, a total of () in the early 2000s, and south into Morgan County, a total of 1.03 square miles (2.67 km2) (659.1 acres (266.73 ha)) in 2018.
Situated in the Tennessee River valley, Huntsville is partially surrounded by several plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
s and large hills. These plateaus are associated with the Cumberland Plateau, and are locally called "mountains". Monte Sano Mountain
Monte Sano Mountain is a mountain located in Huntsville, Alabama. The name ''Monte Sano'' is Spanish for "Mountain of health". This name comes from the fact that curative health resorts used to be located on the mountain to take advantage of th ...
(Spanish for "Mountain of Health") is the most notable and is east of the city, along with Round Top (Burritt), Chapman, Huntsville, and Green mountains. Others are Wade Mountain to the north, Rainbow Mountain to the west, and Weeden and Madkin mountains on the Redstone Arsenal property in the south. Brindley Mountain
Brindlee Mountain (or "Brindley Mountain") is an isolated portion of the Appalachian Plateau in northern Alabama. It occupies significant portions of Cullman, Morgan, and Marshall Counties and extends into Winston and Lawrence counties. The ...
is visible in the south across the Tennessee River.
As with other areas along the Cumberland Plateau, the land around Huntsville is karst in nature. The city was founded around the Big Spring, which is a typical karst spring. Many cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
s perforate the limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
bedrock underneath the surface, as is common in karst areas. The National Speleological Society
The National Speleological Society (NSS) is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally headquartered in Washington D.C., its current offices are in ...
is headquartered in Huntsville.
Climate
Huntsville has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Cfa''). It experiences hot, humid summers and generally mild winters, with average high temperatures ranging from near in the summer to during winter.
Huntsville is near the center of a large area of the U.S. mid-South that has maximum precipitation in the winter and spring, not summer. The average yearly precipitation is more than 54 inches. On average, the wettest single month is December, but Huntsville has a prolonged wetter season from November to May, with (on average) nearly or over 5 or more inches of precipitation most of those months. On average, August to October represent slightly drier months (see climate chart, showing less than 3.6 inches of precipitation these months). Droughts can occur, primarily August through October, but usually there is enough rainfall to keep soils moist and vegetation lush. Much of Huntsville's precipitation is delivered by thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...
s. Thunderstorms are most frequent during the spring, and the most severe storms occur during the spring and late fall. These storms can deliver large hail, damaging straight-line winds, and tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es. Huntsville lies in a region colloquially known as Dixie Alley
"Dixie Alley" is a colloquial term sometimes used for areas of the southern United States which are particularly vulnerable to strong to violent tornadoes. Some argue this is distinct from the better known "Tornado Alley" and that it has a high f ...
, an area more prone to violent, long-track tornadoes than most other parts of the US.
On April 27, 2011, the largest tornado outbreak on record, the 2011 Super Outbreak
The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest, costliest, and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded, taking place in the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States from April 25–28, 2011, leaving catastrophic destruction ...
, affected northern Alabama. During this event, an EF5 tornado that tracked near the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant
The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant is located on the Tennessee River near Decatur and Athens, Alabama, on the north side (right bank) of Wheeler Lake. The site has three General Electric boiling water reactor (BWR) nuclear generating units and i ...
destroyed many transmission towers and caused a multi-day power outage for the majority of North Alabama. That same tornado also resulted in considerable damage to the Anderson Hills subdivision and in Harvest, Alabama
Harvest is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the northwestern part of Madison County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, t ...
. In total, nine people were killed in Madison County, and many others were injured. Other significant tornado events include the Super Outbreak in April 1974, the November 1989 tornado that killed 21 and injured over 460, and the 1995 Anderson Hills tornado that killed one person and caused extensive damage. On January 21, 2010, an EF2 tornado struck Huntsville, resulting in moderate damage. Because it was not rain-wrapped and was easily photographed, it received extensive media coverage.
Since Huntsville is nearly inland, hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s rarely arrive with their full force; however, many weakened tropical storms cross the area after a U.S. Gulf Coast landfall. While most winters have some measurable snow, heavy snow is rare in Huntsville. However, there have been some unusually heavy snowstorms, like the New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm, when fell within 24 hours. Likewise, the Blizzard of 1993
The 1993 Storm of the Century (also known as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of '93/1993) was a cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The cold weather, heavy snowfall, high winds and st ...
and the Groundhog Day snowstorm in February 1996 were substantial winter events for Huntsville. On Christmas Day 2010, Huntsville recorded over of snow, and on January 9–10, 2011 it received at the airport and up to in the suburbs.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 215,006 people and 91,048 households in the city. The population density was . The racial makeup of the city was 59.9% White, 30.9% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 4.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 6.4% of the population.
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 180,105 people, 77,033 households, and 45,416 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 84,949 housing units at an average housing density of 405.3 per square mile (156.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 61.3% White, 30.7% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.9% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 6.2% of the population.
There were 77,033 households, out of which 24.9% had children living with them, 40.1% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.91.
2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...
, there were 158,216 people, 66,742 households, and 41,713 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 73,670 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 64.47% White, 30.21% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 2.22% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.04% of the population. Non-Hispanic Whites were 58% of the population in 2010, compared to 86.9% in 1970.
There were 66,742 households, out of which 27.6% had children living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.91. Same-sex couple households comprised 0.5% of all households.
Economy
Huntsville's main economic influence is derived from aerospace and military technology. Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park (CRP), and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center comprise the main hubs for the area's technology-driven economy. CRP is the second largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. The University of Alabama in Huntsville
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social scienc ...
is a center for technology and engineering research in the area. There are commercial technology companies such as the network access company ADTRAN
Adtran, Inc. is a leading global provider of open, disaggregated networking and communications solutions. Adtran Is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.
The company is ISO 9001 and TL9000, ISO 14001, and ISO 27001 certified.
History
ADTRAN ...
, computer graphics company Intergraph
Intergraph Corporation was an American software development and services company, which now forms part of Hexagon AB. It provides enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software to businesses, governments, and organizations around the w ...
and designer and manufacturer of IT infrastructure Avocent
Avocent, a business of Vertiv, is an information-technology products manufacturer headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Avocent formed in 2000 from the merger of the world's two largest manufacturers of KVM (keyboard, video and mouse) equipment ...
. Cinram
Cinram International was a Toronto, Canada-based manufacturer of pre-recorded Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, CD-Audio, CD-ROMs, VHS tapes and audio cassettes. It was an affiliate of the Arizona-based Najafi Companies.
History
Cinram was established ...
manufactures and distributes 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
DVDs and Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
discs out of their Huntsville plant. Sanmina-SCI
Sanmina Corporation is an American electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider headquartered in San Jose, California that serves original equipment manufacturers in communications and computer hardware fields. The firm has nearly 80 manufa ...
has a presence in the area. A number of Fortune 500 companies have operations in Huntsville.
Retail
There are several strip malls and shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
s throughout the city. Huntsville has one enclosed mall, Parkway Place
Parkway Place is an upscale shopping mall in Huntsville, Alabama that opened on October 16, 2002. Parkway Place is located at the site of the older Parkway City Mall, which was torn down to allow for the construction of the newer facility. The m ...
, built in 2002 on the site of the former Parkway City Mall. A larger mall built in 1984, Madison Square Mall
Madison Square Mall was a shopping mall in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. The largest in the city, it encompassed over . It was also the oldest extant enclosed shopping mall (after the Heart of Huntsville Mall closed) in the city until its ...
, was closed in 2017 and the site is being redeveloped into a lifestyle center, named Mid City. There is also a lifestyle center named Bridge Street Town Centre, completed in 2007, in Cummings Research Park.
Space and defense
Huntsville remains the center for rocket-propulsion research in NASA and the Army. The Marshall Space Flight Center has been designated to develop NASA's Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
(SLS), and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM is primarily responsible for lifecycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned gro ...
(AMCOM) is responsible for developing a variety of rocket-based tactical weapons.
Automobiles
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama (TMMAL) manufactures engines for cars and trucks near Huntsville, Alabama, United States. It is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor North America, itself a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan. Construction ...
was constructed in 2003 and is located in North Huntsville Industrial Park. The plant has 1,800 employees as of 2022. The plant manufactures engines for Toyota vehicles.
The Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA
Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (MTMUS) is a joint venture automobile manufacturing factory in Huntsville, Alabama, United States owned by Japanese automobile manufacturers Mazda and Toyota.
The companies announced on January 10, 2018 ...
was constructed in 2021 with a plan to hire 4,000 employees. The facility produces Toyota and Mazda SUVs
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
and pickup trucks. The majority of the plant is located in Huntsville, however the southern third is located in the unincorporated community of Greenbrier.
Technology
Biotechnology
More than 25 biotechnology firms have developed in Huntsville due to the Huntsville Biotech Initiative. The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is part of the Cummings Research Park. The non-profit HudsonAlpha Institute has contributed genomics and genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
work to the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE
The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) is a public research project which aims to identify functional elements in the human genome.
ENCODE also supports further biomedical research by "generating community resources of genomics data, software ...
). For-profit business ventures within the Biotech Campus focus on subjects such as diagnosing disease, immune responses to cancer, protein crystallization
Protein crystallization is the process of formation of a regular array of individual protein molecules stabilized by crystal contacts. If the crystal is sufficiently ordered, it will diffract. Some proteins naturally form crystalline arrays, li ...
, lab-on-a-chip
A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a single integrated circuit (commonly called a "chip") of only millimeters to a few square centimeters to achieve automation and high-throughput screening. ...
technologies, and agricultural technologies. The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) created a doctoral program in biotechnology to help develop scientists to support HudsonAlpha in addition to the emerging biotechnology economy in Huntsville.
Meta
In 2018, Meta broke ground on a $1.5 billion data center in North Huntsville Industrial Park, and was opened in 2021. In June 2022, they announced they would be expanding the facility to seven buildings across a 3.5 million square foot area, but paused construction in December. The company advertised that the facility runs on 100% renewable energy and provides 300+ jobs to the community.
Arts and culture
Historic districts
Twickenham Historic District
Twickenham Historic District was the first historic district designated in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1973, with a boundary increase on May 26, 2015. The name derives from an ...
was chosen as the name of the first of three of the city's historic districts. It features homes in the Federal and Greek Revival architectural styles introduced to the city by Virginia-born architect George Steele
William James Myers (April 16, 1937 – February 16, 2017), better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele, was an American professional wrestler, school teacher, author, and actor. His career lasted from 1967 until 1988, though he mad ...
about 1818. The 1819 Weeden House Museum was home to female artist and poet Howard Weeden, whose watercolors include portraits of African Americans. Old Town Historic District Old Town Historic District may refer to:
;in the United States
(by state then city)
* Old Town Historic District (Huntsville, Alabama), listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
* Old Town Historic District (Selma, Alabama), NRHP-li ...
contains a variety of styles (Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, and California cottages), with homes dating from the late 1820s through the early 1900s.
Five Points Historic District, consists predominantly of bungalows built around the beginning of the 20th century, by which time Huntsville was becoming a mill town. Merrimack Mill Village Historic District is a historic district developed around the Merrimack Cotton Mill in 1900. The district features homes following a number of similar floor plans
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure.
Dimensi ...
that reflect those popular during the 19th century in the South.
Lowe Mill
Lowe Mill is a former cotton mill of approximately located southwest of downtown Huntsville, Alabama.
Today the building, operated by Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment, houses the largest privately owned arts facility in the United States. Owned by ...
Village and Lincoln Mill and Mill Village Historic District were established during the textile boom of the 1890s and were recognized for their historical importance in 2011, along with Dallas Mill Village.
Museums
*Alabama Constitution Village
The Constitution Hall Park is a historical open-air museum in Huntsville, Alabama, that reenacts life in 1819. The eight buildings include a law office, print shop, land surveyor's office, post office, cabinetmaker's shop and residence. It was adde ...
features eight reconstructed Federal style buildings, with living-museum displays downtown.
*Early Works Museum is an interactive museum.
* Huntsville Depot
The Huntsville Depot located on the Norfolk Southern Railway line in downtown Huntsville is the oldest surviving railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest in the United States. Completed in 1860, the depot served as eastern division headqu ...
, completed in 1860, is the oldest extant railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest extant depots in the United States.
*Burritt on the Mountain, located on Monte Sano Mountain, is a regional history museum and event venue featuring a 1950s mansion, interpretive historic park, nature trails, and scenic overlooks.
*Harrison Brothers Hardware Store, established in 1879, is the oldest operating hardware store in Alabama. Now owned by the Historic Huntsville Foundation, it is still a working store and museum, featuring craftsmen.
* Huntsville Museum of Art in Big Spring International Park offers permanent displays, traveling exhibitions, and educational programs.
* North Alabama Railroad Museum
The North Alabama Railroad Museum, Inc. is a railroad museum in Chase, Alabama. The museum, incorporated in 1966, is an all volunteer organization. The museum has a collection of rolling stock, a small train station, and a small heritage railroa ...
features locomotives, coach cars, and other train cars.
* United States Space & Rocket Center is features the United States Space Camp, Aviation Challenge, and the only Saturn V
Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with three stages, and powered with liquid fuel. It was flown from 196 ...
rocket designated a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
* The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum displays more than 30 military vehicles from World War I to the present, including the world's oldest jeep, artifacts, and small arms dating back to the Revolutionary War.
Festivals
Panoply Arts Festival
The Panoply Arts Festival is an annual three-day celebration of the arts in Huntsville, Alabama. The first festival opened on May 14, 1982. The outdoor festival celebrates the arts with a wide array of performances, exhibits, demonstrations, an ...
occurs spring, and includes demonstrations, performances, competitions, workshops, and fireworks.
The Rocket City Brewfest is an craft beer festival occurring each May.
The Cigar Box Guitar Festival occurs each June, and is the world's longest running Cigar Box Guitar festival, featuring live music using home made instruments.
The Galaxy of Lights is a holiday-themed light showcase hosted by the Huntsville Botanical Garden
The Huntsville Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama, near the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. It is open year-round for a fee. The garden is ranked third on the list of Alabama's top paid to ...
each winter. The Botanical Garden hosts a fun-run through the event.
Libraries
Branches of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library include: Bailey Cove Branch Library, Bessie K. Russell Branch Library, Downtown Huntsville Library, Eleanor E. Murphy Branch Library, Oscar Mason Branch Library, and Showers Center Library. The Downtown Huntsville Library has Alabama's highest materials circulation rate, and features a historical resource archive.
Performing arts
Arts Huntsville (TAC) includes over 100 local arts organizations and advocates, and promotes visual arts with two galleries: art@TAC, and JavaGalleria. TAC supports Create Huntsville, a county initiative to expand arts and cultural opportunities.
Music
The Huntsville Community Chorus Association (HCCA) is one of Alabama's oldest performing arts organizations, with its first performance dating to December 1946. HCCA produces chorale concerts and musical theater productions. The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is Alabama's oldest continuously operating professional symphony orchestra, featuring performances of classical, pops and family concerts, and music education programs in public schools. Huntsville Chamber Music Guild was organized in 1952 to promote and present chamber music programs; the group seeks to present recitals in which artists are presented in works of the classical masters.
The Huntsville Youth Orchestra was founded by Russell Gerhart, founding conductor of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, in 1961. The HYO is a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to "foster, promote, and provide the support necessary for students from North Alabama to experience musical education in an orchestral setting." The organization has six ensembles: the Huntsville Youth Symphony, Sinfonia, Philharmonia, Concert Orchestra, Intermezzo Orchestra, and Novice Strings.
Theatre
Broadway Theatre League was founded in 1959. BTL presents a season of national touring Broadway productions each year, a family-fun show, and additional season specials. Shows are presented in the Von Braun Center's Mark C. Smith Concert Hall. Theatre Huntsville, the result of a merger between the Twickenham Repertory Company (1979–1997) and Huntsville Little Theatre (1950–1997), is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, all-volunteer arts organization that presents six plays each season in the Von Braun Center Playhouse. Theatre Huntsville also presents drama-related workshops (stage management, stage makeup, etc.), as announced.
Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theatre, Huntsville's oldest children's theater, was founded in 1961. Fantasy Playhouse Theater Academy, the organization's dance, music, and art school, teaches children and adults each year. Fantasy Playhouse regularly produces three plays a year with an additional play, ''A Christmas Carol'', produced early each December. Independent Musical Productions (IMP), was founded in 1993 and presents a number of annual musical productions with a cast of middle and high schoolers. Standard and original musicals for children as well as outreach programs complete the season.
Other
Merrimack Hall Performing Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that opened in 2007, after being renovated from a textile factory to a performing arts center. Merrimack Hall includes a 300-seat performance hall, a dance studio, and rehearsal and instructional spaces for musicians. Merrimack's Happy HeARTs program offers arts and social opportunities for special needs individuals.
Ars Nova School of the Arts is a conservatory for music and performing arts. Ars Nova produces musical theatre, opera, and operetta for the local stage.
Visual arts
The Huntsville Museum of Art opened in 1970. It purchased the largest privately owned, permanent collection of art by American women in the U.S., featuring Anna Elizabeth Klumpke, among others. The Huntsville Photographic Society started in 1956. A non-profit organization, the HPS is dedicated to furthering the art and science of photography in North Alabama. The Huntsville Art League started in 1957, adopting the name "The Huntsville Art League and Museum Association" (HALMA). In addition to their Visiting Artists and "Limelight Artists" series, which highlight both nonresident and member artists at the home office, HAL features its members' works at galleries located in the Jane Grote Roberts Auditorium of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library Main Branch, the Heritage Club, and the halls of the ''Huntsville Times''.
Convention center and arena
The Von Braun Center
The Von Braun Center (known as the Von Braun Civic Center until 1997) is an entertainment complex, with a maximum arena seating capacity of 9,000, located in Huntsville, Alabama. The original facility debuted in 1975 and has undergone several si ...
, which originally opened in 1975 as the Von Braun Civic Center, has an arena capable of seating 10,000, a 2,000-seat concert hall, a 500-seat playhouse (330 seats with proscenium staging), and of convention space. Both the arena and concert hall have undergone major renovations; as a result, they have been rechristened the Propst Arena and the Mark C. Smith Concert Hall, respectively.
Local breweries
A number of local breweries are located in Huntsville. Straight to Ale Brewery opened in 2010 in North Huntsville, later relocated to South Huntsville, and then moved to Campus 805 in West Huntsville. Yellowhammer Brewing opened in 2010 in West Huntsville. It later moved to a new facility at Campus 805 in West Huntsville. Salty Nut Brewery opened in 2013 in North Huntsville and moved to West Huntsville on brewery row. Green Bus Brewing in downtown Huntsville opened in late 2015.
Comedy
Huntsville is home to a number of comedy shows and venues. Stand Up Live is a comedy venue near Downtown. Awesome Comedy Hour takes place at alcohol store Liquor Express in Western Huntsville.
Other
The National Speleological Society is headquartered in Huntsville on Cave Street. The Von Braun Astronomical Society has two observatories and a planetarium on 10 acres (40,000 m2) in Monte Sano State Park. The Three Caves is a former rock quarry which now has concerts during the summer.
Sports
Huntsville is home to a number of adult sports teams and leagues. The Huntsville Havoc
The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). They play their home games at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Alabama.
History
The team began play in the 2004–05 season ...
are a professional ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
team with the Southern Professional Hockey League that play home games at the Von Braun Center. The Huntsville Adult Soccer League is an amateur adult soccer league with seven teams, including four men's divisions, a premier team, a women's team, and a master's team. They play at Merrimack Sports Complex. The Rocket City Roller Derby
Rocket City Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league located in Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in December 2004 as Dixie Derby Girls, the league is a charter member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History and or ...
is part of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...
(WFTDA) and plays at the NSS Conference Center. The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (University of Alabama in Huntsville) Men's and Women's Basketball teams are part of NCAA D-II and play at Spragins Hall. The Alabama A&M Bulldogs
The Alabama A&M Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. The program features 15 varsity sports teams. They participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Div ...
(Alabama A&M University) Men's Football team is part of NCAA D-I FCS.
Huntsville's largest stadium is the Von Braun Center with a maximum arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
of 9,000. Toyota Field
Toyota Field is a soccer-specific stadium in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Located next to Heroes Stadium, and adjacent to the STAR Soccer Complex and Morgan's Wonderland, the facility opened on April 13, 2013. The stadium is the home ...
is a baseball park with a capacity of about 7,500, home to the Trash Pandas in nearby Madison. A number of smaller stadiums are used by universities or public schools, including Joe Davis Stadium
Joe W. Davis Stadium is a former minor league baseball park in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, which is currently being converted into a soccer stadium. Joe Davis Stadium hosted the Huntsville Stars of the Southern League from 1985 until ...
with a capacity of 6,000, Louis Crews Stadium
Louis Crews Stadium is a 21,000-seat multi-purpose stadium located on the campus of Alabama A&M University in Normal, Alabama. The stadium opened in 1996 and is home to the Alabama A&M football team. It was named in honor of Louis Crews, who s ...
with a capacity of 21,000, and Milton Frank Stadium with a capacity of 12,000. The Merrimack Soccer Complex has 14 soccer fields used by youth soccer organizations. The Huntsville Speedway }
Huntsville Speedway is a quarter-mile (.402 km) oval race track in Huntsville, Alabama. It opened in 1959 as a dirt track, and was paved in 1962. It held one NASCAR Grand National Series event in 1962, won by Richard Petty. Today the track ...
is a quarter mile oval race track used for race days and other events.
Huntsville has had many professional sports teams in its past, most of which were discontinued due to lack of funding or being transferred to a different city. Huntsville's first sports team was the Huntsville Rockets
The Huntsville Rockets were a professional American football team based in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1962 to 1966. They played their home games at Goldsmith–Schiffman Field.
History
The Rockets were founded as members of the Dixie Professiona ...
football team, launched in 1962 and folded in 1967 due to lack of funding. The Alabama Hawks
The Alabama Hawks were a professional American football team based in Huntsville, Alabama. They were members of various minor league football circuits in the 1960s: the Southern Football League (1963–64); the North American Football League ...
were a football team founded in 1963 and were discontinued in 1969 due to lack of funding. The Huntsville Stars
The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1985 to 2014. They competed in the Southern League as the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics from 1985 to 1998 and Mil ...
were a Minor League Baseball team founded in 1985, originally as the Nashville Sounds in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
, but were transferred to Huntsville soon after. They were transferred to Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
in 2014, being renamed as the Biloxi Shuckers
The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in reference to the city's oyster industry and seafood heri ...
. The Huntsville Blast
The Huntsville Blast were a minor league professional ice hockey team and member of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). The Blast played at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the 1993–94 ECHL season. Previously the franchise p ...
were a minor league ice hockey team, originally founded in 1981 as the Roanoke Valley Rampage
The Roanoke Valley Rampage were a minor league hockey franchise in the ECHL during the 1992–93 season. The Rampage played their games at the LancerLot in Vinton, Virginia. The Rampage had played from 1983–90 as the Virginia Lancers, played as ...
in Vinton, Virginia
Vinton is a town in Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,059 at the 2020 census. Vinton is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Roanoke Region of Virginia.
History
By the late 18th century, settler ...
, and were relocated to Huntsville in 1993. The following season, the team was relocated to Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
, Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
as the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks
The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played in Tallahassee, Florida, from 1994 to 2001 as members of the East Coast Hockey League. The Tiger Sharks home rink was the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Cente ...
. The Huntsville Fire
The Huntsville Fire was an American professional indoor soccer team based in Huntsville, Alabama. The Fire played in the Eastern Indoor Soccer League during both of the league's seasons from 1997 to 1998. They played their home games in the Von ...
were an indoor soccer team founded in 1997 and dissolved in 1998 due to lack of funding. The Huntsville Channel Cats
The Huntsville Channel Cats was a professional ice hockey team based in Huntsville, Alabama. The franchise was a member of several different leagues, the Southern Hockey League (1995–1996), the Central Hockey League (1996–2001) and the Sou ...
were an ice hockey team founded in 1995 and renamed the Huntsville Havoc in 2004. The Huntsville Flight
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...
were a basketball team founded in 2001 and were moved to Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
in 2005. Today, they are the Cleveland Charge
The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland.
The fra ...
. The Tennessee Valley Raptors
The Rock River Raptors were a professional indoor football team based in Rockford, Illinois. The team was most recently a member of the Continental Indoor Football League. The franchise was established in 2000 as the Tennessee Valley Vipers, a c ...
were an indoor football team established in 2000 and relocated to Rockford, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
in 2005. The Alabama Hammers
The Alabama Hammers were a professional indoor football team based in Huntsville, Alabama. The team played in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) from 2012 to 2015. The Hammers originally began play as an expansion team in the Souther ...
were an indoor football team established in 2010 and folded in 2016 due to the collapse of the league.
Parks and recreation
There are more than 60 parks within the city limits of Huntsville. In 2013, for the fifth time in seven years, Huntsville was named a 'Playful City USA' by KaBOOM! (non-profit organization)
KABOOM! is an American non-profit organization that helps communities build playgrounds for children.
History
Darell Hammond and Dawn Hutchison founded the company KABOOM! in 1996. They were inspired to start KaBOOM! after reading a story in ''Th ...
for their efforts to provide a variety of play opportunities for children that included after school programs and parks within walking distance of home.
Huntsville's most popular park is Big Spring International Park
Big Spring International Park (also known as Big Spring Park) is located in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. The park is built around its namesake "Big Spring", the original water source that the city of Huntsville was built around. The Huntsville M ...
in downtown Huntsville, centered on a natural water body (Big Spring). The park contains the Huntsville Museum of Art. Festivals like Panoply Arts Festival and the Big Spring Jam are held around the park. Fish and ducks live in the spring and in surrounding water bodies. There is a waterfall and a constantly lit gas torch. Creekwood Park is a park with a children's playground and dog park that connects to the Indian Creek Greenway. John Hunt Park is the city's largest park, with of open space, tennis courts, soccer fields, and walking trails, as well as facilities near the sports fields.
Burritt on the Mountain atop Monte Sano Mountain features an eccentric, mid-century mansion and museum, an interpretive historic park depicting rural life in the 19th century, educational programs for children and adults, accessible nature trails, and functions as a venue for popular regional events throughout the year. The Huntsville Botanical Garden's site features educational programs, woodland paths, grassy meadows, and vast floral collections. Lydia Gold Skatepark in downtown has of cement for skateboarding and rollerblading.
Land Trust of North Alabama is a member supported, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the natural heritage of the area. They have preserved more than of open space, wildflower areas, wetlands, working farms, and scenic vistas in North Alabama, including over of the Monte Sano Nature Preserve
Monte Sano Nature Preserve is, at , one of the largest urban nature preserves in the US and is located on Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville, Alabama. The Land Trust of North Alabama manages the nature preserve and Land Trust volunteers have cr ...
(Monte Sano Mountain), of the Blevins Gap and Green Mountain Nature Preserves (Huntsville & Green Mountains), and of the Wade Mountain Nature Preserve. Volunteers have created and maintain of public trails – all of which are within the Huntsville city limits.
Monte Sano State Park
Monte Sano State Park is a publicly owned recreation area and mountaintop retreat encompassing on the eastern portion of the top and slopes of Monte Sano Mountain on the east side of Huntsville, Alabama. The state park has 1930s-era, Civilian C ...
has over and features hiking and bicycling trails, rustic cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
, campsites, full RV hookups, and a recently reconstructed lodge. Other state parks nearby include Cathedral Caverns in Woodville, Lake Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, and Joe Wheeler State Park
Joe Wheeler State Park is a public recreation area with resort features located on Wheeler Lake, an impoundment of the Tennessee River in northwest Alabama. The state park contains of land in three separate parcels and adjoins the Tennessee Vall ...
in Rogersville.
Golf courses
There are six main golf courses in Huntsville. Hampton Cove is one of the eleven courses making up the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is a collection of championship caliber golf courses, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., distributed across the state of Alabama, as part of investments by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. The Trail started ...
, featuring two championship 18-hole courses, one par-three course, and a driving range Sunset Landing Golf Course offers an 18-hole golf course next to Huntsville International Airport
Huntsville International Airport (Carl T. Jones Field) is a public airport and spaceport ten miles southwest of downtown Huntsville, in Madison County, Alabama, United States.
The airport is part of the Port of Huntsville (along with the Inte ...
. The Links on Redstone Arsenal is available for Military, NASA, and others that have base access. The Links has four separate 9-hole courses (two of which can be used for footgolf
Footgolf is a sport in which players kick a football into a cup in as few shots as possible. The name is a portmanteau of association football and golf, and the game combines the two sports, being more closely related to golf.
Rules
The game ...
) and a driving range. The Ledges is an exclusive 18-hole championship golf course, also offering a banquet hall A banquet hall, function hall, or reception hall, is a special purpose room, or a building, used for hosting large social and business events. Typically a banquet hall is capable of serving dozens to hundreds of people a meal in a timely fashion. Pe ...
, grand hall, and a number of meeting rooms at their clubhouse. Huntsville Country Club offers an 18-hole course and driving range, as well as a banquet hall, pool, and TrackMan
The TrackMan is a radar system that uses Doppler technology to track and record 3D characteristics of a sports ball in motion.
History
TrackMan was created in 2003 by golfers Klaus (CEO) and Morten Eldrup-Jørgensen and radar engineer Fredri ...
room, all exclusive to club members. Valley Hill Country Club offers a 27-hole course and facilities for rental, exclusive to members.
Government
The current mayor of Huntsville is Tommy Battle
Thomas “Tommy” Massengale Battle Jr. (born December 3, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who serves as the 67th and current mayor of Huntsville, Alabama. His first term began November 3, 2008, and he has since been reelected in ...
, who was first elected in 2008 and then re-elected in 2012, 2016, and 2020. The City Administrator is John Hamilton, who replaced Rex Reynolds on January 1, 2014, when Reynolds retired.
The city has a five-member (per each district) City Council. Council elections are staggered, meaning that Districts 2, 3, and 4 had elections in August 2018, while Districts 1 and 5 had elections simultaneously with mayoral elections in 2020. The city has boards and commissions which control most public services and development projects. In 2020, the city announced that they'd be building a new $80 million city, planned to centralize all boards and committees in one building.
In July 2007, then Senator Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
held the first fundraiser in Alabama for his presidential campaign in Huntsville. Obama ended up winning the Alabama Democratic Primary in Madison County by large margins in 2008. In the general election, John McCain carried Madison County with 57% of the vote. In the 2016 general election, Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
(R) carried Madison County with 55% of the vote, with Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
(D) receiving 38%, and Gary Johnson
Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...
(L) receiving 4%. In 2022, former Rep. Mo Brooks
Morris Jackson "Mo" Brooks Jr. (born April 29, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. His district was based in Huntsville and stretches across the northern fifth of the sta ...
(R-5th Congressional District, AL) announced his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the Senate. In November, Dale Strong won the election to replace Mo Brooks.
Education
K–12 education
Most K–12 students in Huntsville attend Huntsville City Schools. In the 2020–2021 school year 23,514 students attended Huntsville City Schools. According to '' U.S. News & World Report'', "49% of high school students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 45% tested at or above that level for math". They also stated that high schoolers have a 92% graduation rate.
Of the 46 schools in the Huntsville City Schools system in 2020-2021, there were:
* 26 Preschool
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...
s (Pre-K
Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool o ...
)
* 28 Elementary schools (K–5)
* 14 Middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
s (grades 6–8)
* 6 high School
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
s (grades 9–12)
* 3 special centers (two Schools of Choice and one Program of Choice)
Huntsville City Schools also offers six magnet programs at existing schools: three programs for grades 9-12, two for 6-8, and one for both.
The section in Morgan County is within the Morgan County School District. A few parcels of Huntsville in Madison County are in the Madison County School District, and a few parcels in Limestone County are in the Limestone County School District.
Several private, parochial, and religious schools serve grades pre-K–12. The city has several private Christian schools, including Saint John Paul II Catholic High School, Oakwood Adventist Academy
Oakwood University is a private, historically black Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the only HBCU owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Oakwood University is accredited by the Southern Associati ...
, Whitesburg Christian Academy, Grace Lutheran School, and Westminster Christian Academy. Randolph School
Randolph School is an American independent private kindergarten-through-12th-grade college preparatory school chartered in 1959 in Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama. It started in a home on Randolph Avenue in downtown Huntsville with a handfu ...
is Huntsville's only independent, private K-12 school.
Higher education
Huntsville has four main higher education institutions. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is the largest university serving the greater Huntsville area, with 7,5=69 students in 2021-2022. About half of its graduates earn a degree in engineering or science, making it one of the larger producers of engineers and physical scientists in Alabama. The Carnegie Foundation ranks the school very highly as a research institution, placing it among the top 75 public research universities in the nation. Alabama A&M University is the oldest university in the Huntsville area, dating to 1875. With over 5,000 students, it is home to the AAMU Historic District with 28 buildings and four structures listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. Oakwood University, founded in 1896, is a Seventh-day Adventist
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
university with over 1,300 students and a member institution of the United Negro College Fund. J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College, founded in 1961, is a public technical college with 872 students as of 2022. In 2021, it was one of six institutions to receive NASA’s Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science Award, being awarded nearly $1.2 million expand its STEM workforce development programs and offer free STEM programs to middle and high schools in the area.
Various colleges and universities have satellite locations or extensions in Huntsville. Calhoun Community College
Calhoun Community College is a public community college in Tanner, Alabama. It is the 2nd largest of the 24 two-year institutions that make up the Alabama Community College System.
History
The college was founded in 1946 and named after John C ...
's Cummings Research Park location offers in-person technical and medical programs. Columbia College's Redstone Arsenal location and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Redstone Arsenal location offer higher education programs in-person and online
In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...
to military individuals and their families. Faulkner University
Faulkner University is a private Christian university in Montgomery, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ.
History
The university was founded in 1942 by Dr. Rex Turner, Dr. Leonard Johnson and Joe Greer as Montgomery Bible S ...
's Research Park location and Strayer University's Research Park offers in-person and online learning. Georgia Institute of Technology's Redstone Arsenal research institute is the, "Development and technology home for Army Air Defense Systems, Missile Defense Systems, Rotary Wing Aviation Technology and more..." and offers professional training in those areas.
Several medical centers and universities with medical programs offer education in medicine. University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established in 1936, the institution became a four-year campus in 1966 and a fully autonomous univ ...
's Huntsville Regional Medical Campus offers a number of on-site programs, including the Family Medicine Residency, Internal Medicine Residency, and Obstetrics and Women's Health Fellowship. The campus also serves as a physician practice for the public. Ross Medical Education Center
Ross Medical Education Center is a nonprofit allied-health school with 43 locations across eight states offering both campus and online programs. Ross was an investment of JLL Partners from 2011 until its conversion to 501(c)(3) nonprofit sta ...
in Research Park offer 36-week experience programs in medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
, dentistry, and veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
fields. Huntsville Hospital
The Huntsville Hospital Health System, also known as Huntsville Hospital, is a public, not-for-profit hospital organization consisting of several sites and buildings originating in the downtown area of Huntsville, Alabama. The Huntsville Hospital ...
offers an accredited school of radiology
Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...
.
Media
Newspapers and magazines
''The Huntsville Times
''The Huntsville Times'' is a thrice-weekly newspaper published in Huntsville, Alabama, and printed in Birmingham, Alabama. It also serves the surrounding areas of north Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The ''Times'' formerly operated as an a ...
'' has been Huntsville's only daily newspaper since 1996, when the ''Huntsville News'' closed. Before then, the ''News'' was the morning paper, and the ''Times'' was the afternoon paper until 2004. The ''Times'' has a weekday circulation of 60,000, which rises to 80,000 on Sundays. Both papers were owned by the Newhouse chain.
In May 2012, Advance Publications, owner of the Times, announced that the Times would become part of a new company called the Alabama Media Group, along with the other three newspapers and two websites owned by Advance. As part of the change, the newspapers moved to a three-day publication schedule, with print editions available only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The Huntsville Times and its sister papers publish news and information seven days a week on AL.com.
A few alternative newspapers are available in Huntsville. The ''Redstone Rocket'' is a newspaper distributed throughout Redstone Arsenal's housing area covering activities on Redstone. ''Speakin' Out News'' is a weekly newspaper focused on African Americans.
''Huntsville Magazine'' is a quarterly lifestyle magazine
Lifestyle journalism is the field of journalism that provides news and opinion, often in an entertaining tone, regarding goods and services used by consumers in their everyday life. Lifestyle journalism covers travel, fashion, fitness, leisure, fo ...
, which, "Serves as a guide to the best of the city with insightful reads on culture, people, entertainment, and businesses catalyzing the city’s transformation."
Radio and television
Huntsville is the 108th largest radio market in the United States. Station KIH20 broadcasts the National Weather Service's forecasts and warnings for the Huntsville area.
The Huntsville DMA serves Madison, Limestone, and Morgan counties. Major stations include WHNT
WHNT-TV (channel 19) is a television station in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Florence-licensed CW owned-and-operated station WHDF (channel 15). Both stations share studio ...
19.1 CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, WHIQ Hiq or Hiaq or Hiyqa (Persian: ) may refer to:
* Hiq, Ardabil (حيق - ''Ḩīq'')
* Hiq, Heris (هيق - ''Hīq''), East Azerbaijan Province
* Hiaq, Khvajeh (هيق - ''Hīaq''), Heris County, East Azerbaijan Province
See also
* Hi-Q (disam ...
25.1 PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
/Alabama Public Television
Alabama Public Television (APT) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Alabama. It is operated by the Alabama Educational Television Commission (AETC), an agency of the Alabama state government which ho ...
, WAFF 48.1 NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, and WZDX
WZDX (channel 54) is a television station in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on North Memorial Parkway ( US 72/231/431) in Huntsville, and its transmi ...
54.1 FOX
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
.
Film
A few feature films have been shot in Huntsville, including ''20 Years After
''20 Years After'' is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic film directed by Jim Torres and Ron Harris and starring Azura Skye, Joshua Leonard, and Nathan Baesel. Filmed principally in north Alabama and southern Tennessee, the low-budget film was in ...
'' (2008, originally released as ''Like Moles, Like Rats'') and '' Constellation'' (2005). Columbia Pictures filmed ''Ravagers'' (1979) in The Land Trust's Historic Three Caves Quarry, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and at an antebellum home. ''Dark Entities'' (2022) takes place in Huntsville and was filmed throughout North Alabama.
Huntsville's legacy in the space program continues to draw film producers looking for background material for space-themed films. During the pre-production of '' Apollo 13'' (1995), the cast and crew spent time at Space Camp and Marshall Space Flight Center preparing for their roles.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Huntsville is served by several U.S. Highways, including 72, 231, 431
Year 431 ( CDXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Bassus and Antiochus (or, less frequently, year 1184 ''Ab urbe c ...
and an Interstate highway spur, I-565, that links Huntsville and Decatur to I-65
Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...
. Alabama Highway 53 also connects the city with I-65 in Ardmore, Tennessee. Major roadways include University Drive
University Drive is a major east–west thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama, following US Route 72 into the city from the west. The highway carries on average approximately 56,000 vehicles a day at .
Route Description
From the west, US 72 enter ...
, Governors Drive
Governors Drive is a major east–west thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama. It follows U.S. Route 431 (US-431) in east Huntsville and State Route 53 (SR-53) in west Huntsville. Governors Drive is one of the main entrance points to the city from ...
, Airport Road, Memorial Parkway and Research Park Blvd.
Public transit
Public transit in Huntsville is run by the city's Department of Parking and Public Transit. The Huntsville Orbit runs 11 fixed routes throughout the city, mainly around downtown and major shopping areas like Memorial Parkway and University Drive and has recently expanded some of the buses to include bike racks on the front for a trial program. The city runs Access, a demand-response transit system for the handicapped, and CommuteSmart, a county-wide carpooling program.
Railroads
Huntsville has two active commercial rail lines. The mainline is run by Norfolk Southern
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...
, which runs from Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
to Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...
. The original depot for this rail line, the Huntsville Depot
The Huntsville Depot located on the Norfolk Southern Railway line in downtown Huntsville is the oldest surviving railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest in the United States. Completed in 1860, the depot served as eastern division headqu ...
, still exists as a railroad museum
A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic equ ...
, though it no longer offers passenger service.
Another rail line, formerly part of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), successor to the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway (NC&StL), is being operated by the Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority (HMCRA). The line connects to the Norfolk Southern line downtown and runs south, passing near Ditto Landing on the Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...
, and terminating at Norton Switch, near Hobbs Island. This service, in continuous operation since 1894, presently hauls freight and provides transloading facilities at its downtown depot location. Until the mid-1950s, the L&N provided freight and passenger service to Guntersville and points South. The rail cars were loaded onto barges at Hobbs Island. The barge tows were taken upstream through the Guntersville Dam & Locks and discharged at Port Guntersville. Remnants of the track supporting piers still remain in the river just upstream from Hobbs Island. The service ran twice daily. L&N abandoned the line in 1984, at which time it was acquired by the newly created HMCRA, a state agency.
A third line, the Mercury and Chase Railroad, runs weekend tourist rides on part of another former NC&StL and L&N line from the North Alabama Railroad Museum
The North Alabama Railroad Museum, Inc. is a railroad museum in Chase, Alabama. The museum, incorporated in 1966, is an all volunteer organization. The museum has a collection of rolling stock, a small train station, and a small heritage railroa ...
's Chase Depot, located in the community of Chase, Alabama
Chase is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Alabama, United States.
History
Chase was named in honor of the Chase family. Henry B. Chase served as the second mayor of Huntsville
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limeston ...
. Their collection includes one of the oldest diesel locomotives in existence (1926). The rail line originally connected Huntsville to NC&StL's Nashville-to-Chattanooga mainline in Decherd, Tennessee
Decherd is a city in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,246 at the 2000 census and 2,361 at the 2010 census.
History
Peter Decherd came to the area in 1831 from Franklin County, Virginia and set up a plantation. In t ...
. The depot was once the smallest union station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
in the United States when it served the NC&StL and Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the predecessor to the Norfolk Southern.
Air service
Huntsville International Airport is served by several regional and national carriers, including Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...
, United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. , Breeze Airways, Silver Airways
Silver Airways LLC. is a United States regional airline with its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. It was founded in 2011 with assets from the former Gulfstream ...
and American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
. Delivery companies have hubs in Huntsville, making flights to Europe, Asia, and Mexico. The airport was reported to have the highest fares in the United States in 2014.
Huntsville is also served by the Meridianville–located Madison County Executive Airport
Huntsville Executive Airport , also known as Tom Sharp Jr. Field and formerly Madison County Executive Airport, is a public-use airport in Madison County, Alabama, United States. It is owned by the Executive Flight Center and located eight nautic ...
, sometimes denoted as Huntsville Executive Airport due to its proximity to the city. The airport is a general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
airport and does not have any regularly-scheduled commercial services.
Ports
The inland Port of Huntsville combines the Huntsville International Airport, International Intermodal Center, and Jetplex Industrial Park for truck, train and air transport. The intermodal terminal
Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more mode of transport, modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of va ...
transfers truck and train cargo to aircraft. The port has on-site U.S. Customs
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted ...
and USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
inspectors. The port is Foreign Trade Zone No. 83.
Bicycle routes
There are several bicycle routes in the city. In 2015, Alabama and Huntsville were not considered bicycle friendly. There are bike paths for exercise available. Huntsville's government is working to improve bicycle network within the city limits. In 2020, Huntsville released a master plan for a 70-mile bicycling and walking trail, named Singing River Trail of North Alabama, to connect downtown Huntsville to the cities of Madison, Decatur, and Athens.
Utilities
Electricity, water, and natural gas are all provided in Huntsville by Huntsville Utilities (HU). HU purchases and resells power from the Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
. TVA has two plants that provide electricity to the Huntsville area: Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Limestone County and Guntersville Dam
Guntersville Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Marshall County, in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s as p ...
in Marshall County. A third, Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Jackson County, was built in the 1980s but was never activated. TVA attempted to sell the plant in 2016, but withdrew from the deal, stating they couldn't sell the plant under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2011-2021, 2022-2286i, 2296a-2297h-13, is a United States federal law that covers for the development, regulation, and disposal of nuclear materials and facilities in the United States.
It was an ame ...
.
Telephone service in Huntsville is provided by AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
, EarthLink
EarthLink is an American Internet service provider.
It went public on NASDAQ in January 1997. Much of the company's growth was via acquisition; by 2000, ''The New York Times'' described Earthlink as the "second largest Internet service provider ...
, WOW!
WideOpenWest (doing business as WOW!) is the sixth largest cable operator in the United States with their network passing 3,248,600 homes and businesses. The company offers landline telephone, cable television, and broadband Internet services ...
, and Comcast. Comcast and WOW! are the two cable providers in the Huntsville city limits. Mediacom
Mediacom Communications Corporation is the United States' fifth largest cable television provider based on the number of video subscribers, and among the leading cable operators focused on serving smaller cities and towns. The company has a s ...
operates in rural outlying areas. AT&T announced the start of its DSL U-verse service in the Huntsville-Decatur metro area in November 2010. AT&T and Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
offer fiber internet service across the city.
Public safety
Fire
The Huntsville Fire and Rescue provides fire protection for the city. On a daily basis the department staffs and coordinates twenty-one engine companies, five ladder trucks, four rescue trucks, along with a Special Operations Division that includes Hazardous Materials Units, Technical Rescue Units, and several specialized support units. Huntsville Fire & Rescue also has Fire Investigations, emergency response dispatch, logistics, and training divisions.
Volunteer organizations
Huntsville has two volunteer public safety organizations in their city. The Huntsville-Madison County Rescue Squad is the county wide volunteer rescue organization with tasks ranging from vehicle extrication to water rescues. The other is the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit which is the region's only all-volunteer cave rescue organization. It is tasked with cave, cliff and high angle rope rescues. These organizations are located in Huntsville but operate both in the city and outside with HCRU, responding to many cave rescue calls coming from caves well outside the city limits.
Emergency medical services
Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (HEMSI) provides emergency medical services to Huntsville and surrounding Madison county. HEMSI operates from 12 stations with a fleet of 36 ambulances.
Police
The Huntsville Police Department has three precincts and one downtown headquarters, over 500 sworn officers, 200 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of approximately 220 square miles. The department also boasts its own academy, which has been in operation since 1965.
Huntsville spent $1.2 million in 2015 to buy body cameras to be used by the Huntsville Police Department. Mayor Tommy Battle pushed for the purchase of the body cameras, saying: "We can provide a trust situation with police and our general public." He also said: "Having that body cam there, having the police video there record what actually happens, and when people come in with complaints against Huntsville police officers, they get to see the action that actually happened."
Following the conviction of a former Huntsville police officer for murder, after he was originally cleared of any wrongdoing by the Police department, the City of Huntsville voted to change the way police shootings are reviewed. Beginning in August 2021, all shootings that result in death that occur by Huntsville Police are to be investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, abbreviated as "ALEA", is a law enforcement agency serving the U.S. state of Alabama. It exists within the Executive Branch of State Government to coordinate public safety in Alabama.Ala. Code 1975, § 41-27-1 I ...
instead. The first investigation following the policy change started in January 2022 after an off-duty Huntsville police officer allegedly killed his girlfriend. The officer had initially reported the death as a suicide, however it was later investigated as a homicide.
An advisory council created by the city described actions by Huntsville Police department (HPD) as being "in a manner that was, at a minimum, unprofessional and on multiple occasions in violation of HPD policy."
Hospitals
Huntsville Hospital in the downtown area is the largest hospital and trauma center
A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emergen ...
. In 2021, Huntsville Hospital opened the Orthopedic & Spine Tower, a seven-story building with 24 surgical orthopedic suites, which brings the total bed count to 881 for Huntsville Hospital. Located further south, Crestwood Medical Center is a smaller, 180-bed teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...
that is ranked nationally in two specialties.
Notable people
Notable people from Huntsville include co-founder of Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
Jimmy Wales, professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
Bobby Eaton
Bobby Lee Eaton (August 14, 1958 – August 4, 2021) was an American professional wrestler best known as "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. He was most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express. Under the managem ...
, film composer
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
and musician Mervyn Warren
Mervyn Edwin Warren (born February 29, 1964) is an American film composer, record producer, conductor, arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist. Warren is a five-time Grammy Award winner and a 10-time Grammy Award nominee. Warren ...
, and early-20th century actress Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...
.
Sister cities
Huntsville's only sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
is:
* Tainan
Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of his ...
, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Huntsville History Collection
{{Authority control
Cities in Alabama
Cities in Limestone County, Alabama
Cities in Madison County, Alabama
County seats in Alabama
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area
Populated places established in 1805
Alabama populated places on the Tennessee River
Special economic zones of the United States
1809 establishments in the United States